Not sure if anyone here does deck staining, but I’m looking for a recommendation for a good stain for the deck at my house.
Its red wood.
Check out this poll from The Grime Scene.
2009 Sealer Poll - Pressure Washing and Contractor Cleaning Forums - The Grime Scene
Ready Seal is in the lead. I have used Ready Seal in the past and have been happy with it.
Love Ready Seal… But Preparing the wood right is more important because it allows the wood to absorb the stain which equals the stain to last
longer
I agree regarding the prep of the wood. It needs to be pressure stripped otherwise the stain will eventually bubble up in spots and soaked with bleach to ensure there is no mold that will come back.
Ready Seal is cool but any will do as long as they are oil based. Word of caution: Never put oil based seal over a surface that already has oil based seal on it. It will make for a greasy finish. The deck must be properly stripped prior to the application of the seal.
I buy all of my seal at Sherwin Williams.
I know Ready Seal all too well. Worked for sun brite stripping and staining decks over a decade ago.
The deck at my place had/has a gawd awful dark red stain on it. I attempted to strip it and only got it off the flat surfaces. The railing spindles still have stain on them. Maybe the stripper wasn’t strong enough or did not dwell long enough. Im planning on sanding the flat surfaces, but any suggestions for the spindles.
What do you think about Ready Seal? Are you just looking for other options for stain/sealer?
Patience, lots of patience…
I think you are out of Colorado, so speaking from experience with altitude and weather in the mountainous regions, one word- Sikkens, best product hands down and its the only company we will use anymore, seriously I broke that rule earlier this summer and afterward the customer told me he wished I had stuck to my guns and that they will be using Sikkens on their new home. I worked for Sherwin Williams for 7 years and they make great stuff for flatland, but Sikkens has a history in the european yacht market so their engineering is based off of intense weather conditions.
Two product options-
SRD (Siding Rail Deck) -one coat system with a matte finish, UV inhibitors are in the color, so wood will darken with maintenance coats in the future- price $20-30 per gallon
Cetol DEK- two coat system with a semi gloss finish but can be one coated with a clear in a couple of years to keep UV protection up and keep your original color, its freaking beautiful, looks like a hardwood floor when its finished- price $60-$80 per gallon
You would have to check the website to find a local dealer because they don’t sell at big box, if you have an Alpine lumber company they should have it. Like everyone said, preparation is very important, but not every oil is created equal;)
As for Stripper, Flood makes the best one we have found, its about $30 a gallon and its nasty stuff (almost like airplane stripper) but it will take you back to the bare wood, just don’t leave it too long and wear protective clothing because it does burn, and don’t plan on keeping your prize winning roses around either.
Thanks.
So bottom line, get the rest of this stain off the wood before I go any further.
If you do sand,
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Renting a floor sander is great, as long as the wood hasn’t weathered enough that the edges warped upward, if they are uniformly flat then its worth every bit of $75 because it will turn a days work into an hour and a half.
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If your gonna use a belt sander (which we do often) step up to a 24" Bosch or other $200+ comparable, there is a difference and the boys burned up 2 of the Dewalt and Makita lower lines before I found that out, your rental company will probably have the heavy duty ones available if you won’t ever need a belt sander again.
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Depending on how wide the gap is between your spindles you may be able to squeeze a mouse sander, sometimes edge of orbital, its usually beneath the spindles that we have found no way but by hand to sand.
Wow! Good information. Thanks.
Ok.
How about actually painting one?
After I spoke to the mrs. she mentioned the idea of painting it?
Thoughts?
That’s what I was going to suggest. Or replacing them with new ones. Depending on the style of spindle you currently have, it could take forever to get them in condition to stain. I’ve seen a lot of decks recently with the metal spindles that look really nice.
I’m gonna slap some exterior house paint on a section of spindles and railing tomorrow and see how it looks. The decking I’m all for sanding and re-staining, but boy those spindles could take forever.
The house we pressure washed yesterday has their spindles painted (or heavy solid color stained) and then they left the handrail and main posts stained the same as the decking and it looks pretty classy. The prep isn’t near as critical on the spindles for painting, as it would be if you were gonna paint the decking (that’s when paint bubbling becomes a real problem, and even solid color stain).
Good luck, it sounds like you’ve got your labor day booked up 
If the paint on the spindles dosen’t look good, and they are screwed on you could take them off, and find a furniture restorer in your area with a dip tank.
